


Take It All Away

by sowhatsophie



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Dark Doctor (Doctor Who), Doctor Who AU, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-23
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-05-28 12:02:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6328066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sowhatsophie/pseuds/sowhatsophie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if the Doctor's meta-crisis clone wasn't what the Doctor hoped he would be? When the clone turns on Rose and puts her life in danger, the Doctor must find a way to save her. But will he get there before it's too late?</p><p>Inspired by: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cIeV8FZD4w</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Rose remembered very clearly when it started to change. The happiness hadn’t lasted long – _he_ wasn’t her Doctor; he never was. He was a monster. The first month had been bliss. Each day had been filled with laughter and smiling and kisses but after that month, was when the change happened. Rose wasn’t sure why or how it occurred. In fact, it baffled her more than anything. The first time he hit her was a memory she couldn’t quite forget, despite how much she wanted to.

It had been a petty argument, over something stupid like forgetting to wash the dishes or hang out the washing but it had escalated quite quickly. Rose knew the expression; she had seen it on the Doctor’s face before. There was no mistaking that look of anger – intense eyes, clenched jaw, tense body. Rose knew that look…but never before had it been directed at her.

“Would you ever just _shut up_?”

Rose tried not to take it to heart except that was easier said than done. The Doctor had never spoken to her like that and he had never looked at her like that. She had to remind herself that this wasn’t him. This was a new man and this was their first argument as a couple, of course this sort of thing was going to seem weird coming from a man who was a near-identical to the Doctor – the only difference being his human heart.

“Look, I only asked for- “

“ _Shut. Up._ ”

Rose stared and he stared back. If looks could kill…

“You don’t need to be so aggressive.”

“I said shut up!”

“Bloody hell. Will you just relax?”

And then the cup flew towards her. He lifted it from the table and launched it right at her without even blinking. It had narrowly missed Rose’s head by an inch and ended up smashing against the wall behind her. Her mouth was dry and her breathing grew erratic.

“Why did you…why did you do that?”

He laughed. It was the sort of laugh that made you feel uneasy, that made you want to run. It was almost psychotic.

“You really don’t stop do you? I throw a goddamn cup at you and you still can’t shut your bloody mouth.”

He stood up and Rose involuntarily took a step back. For once in her life, she didn’t feel safe around the Doctor – no, not the Doctor. He _wasn’t_ the Doctor. The Doctor would never do this to her, he would never make her feel like this.

“I-I don’t understand why you’re acting like this.”

He rolled his eyes and advanced towards Rose, backing her into the corner. He was dangerously close to her; so close she could feel his breath on her skin. Tears stung her eyes and she gulped, forcing herself not to cry in front of him. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her in a weakened state. He placed one hand on the wall behind her and tilted his head, studying her face for a moment. His lips curled into an evil grin.

“Look at you…not remotely important.”

“ _Get away from me._ ”

Then, he hit her. He raised his hand and smacked her right across the cheek; not even hesitating before doing so. A sharp pain erupted through the left side of Rose’s face and she let out a cry of pain, bringing her hand up to cradle her burning skin. Rose couldn’t quite believe what had just happened. Everything was blurry but that was partially due to the tears in her eyes. She could hear him spitting words at her, profanities and slurs, but Rose didn’t register a word he said. All she could think about was the burning of her cheek and how the man who looked like the Doctor had just struck her.

“Look at you, _pathetic._ I could do _so much better_ than you.”

His words were like daggers – sharp, cold, painful. Rose couldn’t look at him; she couldn’t take the hatred in his eyes. He let out a growl and slammed his hand against the wall next to her head causing her to flinch. His eyes lingered on her for a moment before he stepped away, moving to grab his jacket that was draped over the kitchen chair. He didn’t take a second glance at her as he slipped his jacket on and stormed out of the room. Everything was silent for a moment and then Rose heard the distinct sound of the front door being slammed shut.

He was gone. She was alone. Safe, for now. Rose closed her eyes, finally allowing tears to roll down on her cheeks. One million questions ran through Rose’s head. Why did he do that? Why her? What had she done to earn a reaction like that from him? What were they even arguing about in the first place? Was he going to come back? Rose let out a sob and slowly slid down the wall, pulling her knees to her chest. She rested her forehead against her knees and blew out a shaky breath as she tried to calm herself down but no amount of breathing could stop the stream of tears that ran down her face.

After a few minutes, Rose pushed herself up off of the floor and left the kitchen, trudging towards the downstairs bathroom. She pushed open the wooden door and walked in, closing it behind her. The bathroom was quite small and it only contained a toilet and a sink. Everything in the room was porcelain white apart from the few ruby red accessories that were strung around it – the liquid soap, the hand towel and the single, artificial rose in the vase on the sink. Rose placed her hands on the edge of the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. She was an absolute mess; puffy eyes, mascara smudged. But, the thing that stood out the most was the large, burning red mark on her cheek. Rose picked up a roll of toilet paper and unwrapped a large chunk of it. She turned the tap on and then placed the tissue under it for a mere second so it would be damp. Rose looked back into the mirror and started to dab around her eyes in an attempted to get rid of the black smudges and puffiness. It didn’t make a huge different but it helped a little.

As Rose was about to tend to her cheek, the sound of the house phone erupted through the hall. She let out a sigh and rushed from the bathroom to answer it; immediately recognising her mother’s phone number. She hesitated for a moment before pressing the answer button and tried her best to sound normal.

“Hi, mum.”

“Rose! I’m just out shopping with your dad, do you mind if we pop in on our way home? You aren’t busy, are you?” Jackie asked, talking at fifty miles an hour as usual.

Rose gulped. Should she tell her?

“No. No, I’m not busy. You can pop in.”

“Brilliant!” Jackie paused. “Are you alright, sweetheart? You don’t sound the best.”

She couldn’t tell her. She didn’t want to worry her.

“I’m fine, mum, really,” Rose replied, forcing herself to sound perkier, “Just a bit tired.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with us coming over?”

If he were to come back while her parents were there, it was unlikely he would try anything. Maybe she would feel safer if her parents were there.

“Of course. Yes, come as soon as you can. You can stay for dinner if you like.”

“Alright, sweetheart. I’ll see you soon. Love you.”

“Love you too, mum.”

Rose hung up and placed the phone back into its holder. She glanced over at the front door and silently prayed that he wouldn’t come home before her parents arrived. Rose ran a hand through her hair and quickly jogged upstairs into their bedroom. She looked over at the messy bed sheets which neither of them had bothered to fix. The memory of the previous night was embedded into her brain. Light kisses, roaming hands, soft moans. Everything had changed so suddenly.

Rose shook her head and took a seat in front of her dressing table. She had to fix her make-up before her parents came. She had to make it look like everything was fine. Except everything wasn’t fine. In the space of a half an hour, Rose Tyler’s whole world had started to fall apart once again. Her parents couldn't know that. Neither of them needed to know, they had their own problems to be dealing with. So, Rose fixed her make-up, being careful not to hurt her cheek and put on her best smile. She looked exactly she always did but nothing could hide the pain in her eyes, no matter how hard she tried. But still, she didn’t think anyone would notice, not if she just acted normal. If everything went according to plan, then no one would suspect a thing.

Rose Tyler was officially falling apart.


	2. Chapter 2

30 days, 4 hours, 27 minutes and 18 seconds. The exact amount of time it had been since the Doctor had left Rose Tyler on Bad Wolf Bay once again. Except this time, she wasn’t alone; a part of him was with her. Technically, he was with her. But that didn’t mean watching her kiss his clone hurt any less. The Doctor sighed as he looked around the empty control room. This was it. No more companions, no one to share his wonderful adventures with. After what happened with Rose, Martha and Donna, he couldn’t risk hurting anyone else. He couldn’t risk breaking his hearts again.

“Alright, old girl,” the Doctor said, gently patting the TARDIS console, “Where shall we go now?”

Usually, the Doctor would wait for a distress signal or just land wherever he desired. It didn’t really matter; trouble would find him one way or another. Honestly, he wasn’t in the mood for an adventure. A month on his own and his was still in the worst mood imaginable – he couldn’t even remember the last time he had slept. Sleep usually didn’t matter all that much, he could survive on very little, but in that moment it seemed like the only way he could escape his thoughts.

Without a word, the Doctor left the control room and ventured down the winding corridors of the TARDIS. He stopped outside his bedroom door, unable to stop his eyes from lingering on the door next to his a little too long. That had been Rose’s room. He hadn’t been in it -not since he lost her- and it didn’t feel right letting Martha or Donna use it. Maybe it was time to clear out the room, move on. The Doctor hesitated for a moment before placing his hand on the brass handle and twisting it, slowly pushing open the door to the room. He lingered in the doorway for a moment, trying to ignore the part of his mind that was telling him to close the door and walk away. After a minute or so, he walked into the room.

The room Rose had originally walked into had been plain, almost clinical but by God, she had left her mark on it. Posters covered the walls, photo frames were littered across the different surfaces and there were various items of clothing left on the floor. The one that stood out the most was the Union Jack t-shirt that was hanging over the end of her bed. Her bed was unmade, the duvet was tangled and one pillow was in danger of falling over the edge – she must have moved around a lot in her sleep. The Doctor moved towards the bed and took a seat on it so he could take a proper look at the room.

His eyes carefully travelled over every inch of the cream walls and wooden floor, he didn’t want to miss the smallest detail. His gaze finally settled on her bedside locker, where a picture of Rose, Jackie and Mickey sat in a silver frame but that wasn’t what caught his eye. The drawer in the locker was opened just enough for him to spot a little pink notebook that sat inside. Letting his curiosity get the better of him, the Doctor pulled open the drawer and picked up the notebook. He turned the front page and was met with a log of one of their adventures together – Rose had kept a diary. The Doctor grinned. Honestly, he was overjoyed that he could relive those memories from Rose’s eyes and he didn’t hesitate before starting to read, getting lost in the pages of her swirly handwriting. As the pages went on, they became more than just stories, Rose had started to write down her thoughts and feelings. The Doctor skimmed over these parts, almost feeling like he was invading her privacy by reading them but as the diary suddenly came to an abrupt stop, he couldn’t help but read the last entry Rose had ever made.

_Dear Diary,_

_I’d always planned to stay with the Doctor forever but having him ask me how long I was going to stay with him made that seem all that more real. I want to stay with him forever, I never want these adventures to end. Sure, it’s not a normal life and it never will be but who wants normal when you can have this? Different planets, species, all a million light years away – it’s amazing. I made my choice a long time ago and I’m never going to leave him._

_But there is one problem. It’s been nagging at me for a while but I’ve been trying to ignore it, been trying to pretend it wasn’t there but I can’t deny it anymore. I’m in love with the Doctor. I can’t ever tell him; he can’t ever know…if he doesn’t feel the same then everything will change. He might end up dropping me right back in London and I can’t go back to that life, I just can’t. Pretending that I’m not in love with him isn’t easy. Bloody hell, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but if pretending means I get to stay with him, I don’t mind. It’s worth it because I get to stay with him and that’s all I’ll ever want._

_Who knows what tomorrow will hold but I’m sure it’ll be just as exciting as today and yesterday and all the times before that. I’ll have to buy a new notebook if I’m going to be here forever, there’s going to be a lot of pages to fill and this is only the beginning – the start of my forever with him._

_Rose_

The Doctor stared at the diary entry, tears welling in his eyes. Rose thought she couldn’t tell him, she thought he’d leave her back at home. Oh, how wrong she was. If only she knew the truth. If only she knew how much he had fallen for her, how much she had changed his life – changed him.

“Oh, Rose Tyler,” he whispered, tracing his fingers over her handwriting, “I love you too.”

The Doctor closed over the notebook and hugged it close to his chest for a moment before tucking it into his jacket pocket. He took another look around the room, finally paying attention to the picture of Rose, Jackie and Mickey that sat on the bedside locker. He picked it up and traced his thumb over Rose’s face. He longed to see that beautiful smile again, to hear her infectious laughter but this was reality and reality wasn’t fair. He couldn’t see his Rose again and he had to live with that despite how much it killed him.

He placed the photo frame back onto the bedside locker and stood up, blowing out a breath. The Doctor took another look around the room and lifted the Union Jack t-shirt from the bed. He brought the fabric closer to him and was hit with the scent of Rose’s perfume. It just made him ache for her more. The Doctor shook his head and tossed the shirt back onto the bed. He couldn’t do this to himself. He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head before finally making his way out of the room. The Doctor didn’t cast another glance into the room as he pulled the door shut behind him. So much for clearing out her room.

He hated it. He hated missing her. He hated losing everyone. He hated being alone.

_‘You are proof that emotions destroy you.’_

God, that cyberman had been right. He also hated admitting that, mind you.

The Doctor pushed open the door to his bedroom and walked inside, slamming it behind him. He felt a sudden rage that he couldn’t quite shake. Why him? Why was it always him that ended up hurt? He wanted to punch something. Someone, even. He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. One million emotions were flowing through him at once and he didn’t know how to make it stop. Maybe if he slept it would help, he would stop thinking for a few hours. But honestly, the thought of sleeping made him laugh. He wasn’t tired, his mind was more awake than ever so under no circumstances was he going to be able to sleep; not with Rose on his mind.

_Rose._

Why hadn’t he thought of it before? His connection with the meta-crisis clone, if he could tap into it using the TARDIS he would be able to see her. The Doctor broke into a grin and rushed from his bedroom back to the control room of the TARDIS, letting out a little whoop as he stopped in front of the console. He wouldn’t be able to talk to her but he would be able to see her. See that smile. Hear that laugh. And that was good enough for him. The Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and pointed it at the console all while pressing a button or two and pulling a switch.

“Come on, don’t give up on me now,” The Doctor murmured, furrowing his eyebrows.

Suddenly, the screen on the TARDIS lit up. It was blurry at first and glitched a few times before it finally showed a clear picture. It was like he was seeing right through the clone’s eyes. Except he wasn’t seeing Rose; just a street, people passing by, shops on either side of him. The Doctor couldn’t deny that he was a little disappointed. But he had done it. He had made a connection with the clone, a connection with Rose. It wouldn’t be long before he got to see to her again.

 _His_ Rose.


	3. Chapter 3

Rose had just finished pulling ingredients out of the fridge when the doorbell rang, causing her to metaphorically jump out of her skin. _Please don’t let it be him. Please don’t let it be him._ She hesitantly made her way to the door, letting out a sigh of relief as she recognised her parents’ figures through the glass. Rose pulled open the door and grinned at her parents, being engulfed in a hug by her mother before she could even say hello.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Jackie said, kissing her cheek.

“Rosie!” Little Tony chimed from his pram, grinning up at his older sister.

“Hi, mum,” Rose replied, smiling a little wider as her mother kissed her cheek. She crouched down to Tony’s level to greet him. “Hi, pumpkin,” she said, ruffling his hair.

Rose stood back up and opened the door up wider so her parents and brother could enter. Her mum made a beeline for the kitchen and her dad paused to say hello, “Hiya, darling.”

“Hi, dad.”

Pete continued into the kitchen after Jackie, pushing the pram as he went. Rose blew out a breath. Thankfully, they hadn’t noticed anything yet. She closed the front door and followed them into the kitchen, turning her back to them to pour spaghetti into a pot.

“Where’s the Doctor?” Jackie asked, obviously noticing his absence. Usually, he would have been by the door with Rose to greet them.

Rose had a lot of time to think about what lie she would feed to her mum and dad. “He went out for a walk,” she replied. The lie came out smoothly. It was the most plausible situation Rose had come up with. She considered telling them he had gone to the store but it would have looked suspicious if he came back with nothing.

“Oh. Will he be back soon?” Pete asked as he lifted Tony from his buggy and placed him on his lap.

Rose shrugged. “I don’t know.”

As if on cue, the front door opened. Rose felt her whole body tense up and her heart began to beat at what felt like thirty miles an hour. She barely turned to look at him as she heard him enter the kitchen but the atmosphere didn’t become sour like she expected. Much to Rose’s surprise, the clone leaned in to kiss her cheek before turning to greet her parents.

“Jackie, Pete,” he said, grinning brightly and crouching down to high five Tony, “How are you?”

“Doctor! We’re great, and yourself?”

Rose kept her back turned as the three engaged in small talk, remaining silent. Her grip on the spoon in her hand grew tighter and she ground her teeth. How could he just waltz back in here and act like he hadn’t abused her earlier? When he first walked in, Rose had felt anxious and unsettled but now all she felt was anger; a deep rage burning in the pit of her stomach. Despite how much his actions angered her, she kept her mouth shut. She wasn’t planning on starting a scene in front of her parents. Rose would have to deal with him later.

“Need some help with that, darling?” the clone asked in a near-sickly sweet tone.

So now he was choosing to be nice.

“No,” Rose replied, trying not to sound too cold but it still came off that way.

This was going to be one hell of a meal.

As the dinner commenced, Rose barely paid attention to what was being said. She spent the majority of her time twirling the spaghetti around her fork and pushing it around her plate; she wasn’t in the mood to eat. Of course, everyone tried to make conversation with her but most of her answers were short. Eventually, the other three adults present at the table began to run out of things to talk about and it became evident that something was clearly bothering Rose. The clone reached across the table to take Rose’s hand and she had to fight the urge to pull away. Once he took her hand, he gave it a hard squeeze – almost like a warning. Rose cleared her throat and stood up, pulling her hand from the clone’s grasp.

“Tea anyone?” she offered.

Jackie and Pete glanced at each other and Jackie was the one to respond, “No thank you, sweetheart. Dinner was lovely but we should be going, it’s almost Tony’s bedtime.”

This caused Tony to whine and pout. Rose felt the anxiety she had felt earlier creep up on her as she would be left alone with the clone again. She tried as hard as she could to push the thought out of her mind and decided to turn her attention to her brother, smiling softly at him.

“Big boys need their rest, you know?” Rose said, gently brushing a strand of hair out of his eyes.

Tony swatted at Rose’s hand before folding his arms. “I don’t,” he stated, shaking his head.

Rose chuckled a little. “How about this: if you go home and go to sleep for mummy and daddy like a good boy, I’ll take you to the park tomorrow and we can get ice-cream. Sound good?”

Tony’s eyes lit up at the mention of ice-cream. “Yes!” he squealed happily, clapping his hands, “Ice-cream!”

Rose smiled and pressed a kiss to her brother’s forehead. She then scooped him up and placed him back into his pram, strapping him in before turning to look at her parents, “I’ll walk you out.”

Jackie and Pete said their goodbyes to the clone with a hug and a handshake. Then, Pete once again took hold of Tony’s pram and pushed it out into the hall with Rose and Jackie following closely behind. The clone lingered in the doorway of the kitchen, watching Rose as she said her goodbyes to her parents; she could feel his eyes burning into the back of her skull. Rose opened the front door and Pete walked outside with Tony after pressing a kiss to his daughter’s cheek but rather than following him out, Jackie turned to Rose. She glanced down the hall towards the clone before diverting her gaze back to her daughter.

“Is everything alright between you two, love?” Jackie asked in a hushed tone.

Oh, how she longed to tell her the truth.

Rose smiled at her mother. “Of course. We’re fine, really,” she replied.

Jackie could tell something was wrong but she wasn’t about to pry, not with the clone directly in earshot. She returned the smile and pulled Rose into a hug, squeezing her gently.

“You know you can tell me anything, don’t you?” she murmured.

Rose fought the urge to tear up. This was the one thing Rose felt like she couldn’t tell her.

“I know,” she whispered in response.

Jackie pulled away and looked over Rose’s face, finally nodding at her. “Alright, darling,” she said, leaning in to kiss her cheek, “I’ll talk to you soon. Love you.”

“I love you too, mum,” Rose said, shooting her mother one last smile before the older woman walked out of the front door.

Rose stood in the doorway for a moment as her parents and brother clambered into their car and she waved at them as they took off down the road. She felt a sudden pain in her stomach and closed her eyes momentarily, letting out a breath. Her heart had begun to race again. Rose stepped inside and shut the front door, finally turning around to look at the clone. This was it; she was alone with him.

“What the _hell_ was that?” he hissed.

Rose pursed her lips. She couldn’t be scared of him, she had to stand up to him this time. It was the only way he would ever leave her alone.

“What did you want me to do? Act like everything was okay with smiles and pet names?” Rose retorted, glaring at him ever so slightly.

The clone’s eyes darkened and he took a step towards her. “Do you think this is a game, Rose? Do you think I’m going to take your back talk?” he laughed mirthlessly, “I honestly didn’t think you could get any more idiotic but clearly I was wrong.”

Rose grit her teeth. “I’m not scared of you!” she snapped, “Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you lay a hand on me. How dare you even threaten me at all! You’re not even the Doctor, you’re just some ridiculous knock off! You’re _nothing._ And you are certainly _not_ the most important person in my life!”

Everything was silent. For a few seconds, neither of them said anything nor did either of them move. Rose felt elated, proud of herself. She had stood up to him and now he was speechless. God, that made her feel good. Unfortunately, his speechlessness didn’t last for long and neither did Rose’s delight. The clone darted towards Rose and wrapped his hand around her neck, slamming her against the front door. His eyes were wild and his face was distorted with anger. In that moment, Rose was sure he was going to kill her.

“I’m nothing?! _NOTHING?!_ I’m the man who’s saved the world more times than you can count! I’m-“

“That wasn’t you!”

The clone pulled his fist back and delivered a punch to Rose’s face, busting open her lip. She felt blood trickle down her chin and when she swiped her tongue against her lip, the taste of iron filled her mouth.

“I’m the most powerful man in the universe!” he continued, “Time obeys me! The world obeys me! I could let this planet rot if I wanted to!”

“Except you can’t because you’re not a Time Lord. You’re human. You’re _nothing._ ”

Another punch; this time to her nose. A cry erupted from Rose’s lips as hot blood began to stream down her face. Without realising, Rose had started to cry and she began to struggle against his grip. The clone tightened his hold around Rose’s neck, squeezing it tightly. It became harder for her to breath and she clawed at his hand in an attempt to make him let go.

“Let me go!” Rose choked out.

“Look at you, crying and struggling, thinking he’s going to come for you! He’s _never_ going to come for you! He left you! He’ll always leave you because you are NOTHING TO HIM!”

The clone threw Rose against the bottom of the stairs and her back slammed against the wood. She was definitely going to be bruised.

“GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!” the clone roared, advancing towards her once again.

Rose scrambled to get up and she darted up the stairs before he could grab her and inflict worse damage. She ran into the bathroom and slammed the door shut, locking it. Rose could hear him storming around downstairs but he hadn’t tried to follow her yet. She glanced down at her shirt which was stained with blood but she didn’t think her nose was broken, which was a plus. Rose trudged over to the sink and grabbed a cloth, wetting it under the tap and beginning to rub the blood from her face.

She knew the clone was lying. She was something to the Doctor. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t placed a seed of doubt in her mind. Rose sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, wincing at the pain; she had to try stop the blood from flowing. She pressed the towel to her nose and glanced at herself in the mirror. The tips of Rose’s blonde hair were coated with blood and beads of sweat were laced across her forehead. Rose’s whole body ached. She moved away from the sink to run a bath, tossing the blood-spotted towel onto the ground before slipping her clothes off and tossing them next to it. Rose dipped her finger into the bath to test the water, finding it to be the perfect temperature. She snatched up a bottle of bubble bath and poured it in, watching as a layer of bubbles formed on top of the water. Finally, Rose sunk into the bath, letting out a content sigh as the soapy water covered her body; she planned to stay until the water got cold.

It was going to be a long night.


End file.
